Look Closer

The sun shined through the cracked curtains in the hotel room, hitting Jack directly in the face. He let out a groan and rolled over in an attempt to escape the sun and put off the agony of an impending hangover. That was all shot to hell when his body collided with another much smaller body. The feel of bare skin on his own caused his eyes to snap open in shock.

Now very much awake, head pounding and unable to remember the previous night's events, his eyes scanned the body in front of him. Though her back was to him, he knew instantly who the tiny frame and long hair belonged to. But how they ended up in bed together, naked, in the Vegas hotel room was still a mystery.

Just as he was about to slip out of the bed, Chelley began to stir and he froze. Unable to convince his body to move, he watched as the girl rolled over so she was facing him, her eyes slowly fluttering open only to widen in utter shock when they landed on him. Before she said anything, she looked down, and upon realizing she was naked, quickly pulled up the blanket to cover herself. And as she did so, something caught the light and momentarily blinded Jack.

"What the fuck is going on?" she hissed.

Blinking a few times, Jack's vision returned and he quickly looked to see what had caused the reflection, "Fuck," he muttered.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out, Jack. But how did this happen?" she snapped.

"No, Chelley," he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand to show her the ring that now adorned her finger on her left hand. As he did, he saw the ring on his own finger, confirming his fear, "Fuck," he said again.

Chelley's eyes grew wider, "We got married? What the hell happened last night, Jack?" she asked.

"I don't know. I can't remember. All I can remember is playing the show and then going up to the after party in the suite Matt and Alex had from a couple nights ago and drinking. A lot. But that's nothing out of the ordinary for me, especially in Vegas," Jack said.

She sighed, "I don't remember much more than that either. You talked me into playing a drinking game, though. I remember that," she paused, "Could you turn around or something so I can get dressed?"

"We're married, Chelley. I'm going to see you naked at some point," Jack said, a goofy smile spreading across his face.

"Not funny, Jack. We're not staying married. Turn around," she said.

With a sigh, Jack sat up and turned so his back was to her, "Why can't we stay married? I mean, we like each other and we obviously thought it was a good idea last night. Maybe it could work out."

"That's completely ass backward," she replied, getting up and searching for her clothes that were scattered across the room, "You don't get married first and then see if it you fit as a couple. That's not how it works."

Jack's eyes rolled, even though she couldn't see him, "It's no wonder Alex was fucking bored with you," he mumbled.

Chelley was pulling her pants on as he spoke. Her head snapped in his direction once the words had fallen from his mouth and she could feel anger rising inside of her.

"What did you just say?" she demanded.

"I said Alex was bored with you," he repeated, turning around and finding she still had no shirt on. "You have to do shit the conventional way because you buy into all that bullshit you were taught as a child. Alex isn't that guy and honestly, neither am I. Life is an adventure, Chelley, not a fucking chore. And you're missing out on so much because you can't see that."

"That's the problem with you and Alex. You both see things as either fun or boring. You're fucking immature and you don't know the first thing about life and responsibility. You're standing there acting like I'm the one who doesn't get it when really it's you," she snapped.

Jack let out a dry laugh, "I don't know anything about life? I've lived in a van off five dollars a day, begging people to buy a CD so my band could have gas money to get to the next venue. I haven't been home for more than a couple months at a time in years. This band is my life. And it's a huge fucking responsibility. You think it's all fun and games because that's the part of it that you've seen from the time you've known Alex. But you have no idea about the times it would've been so much easier for all of us to just give up and go work at fucking Target," he said and quickly got dressed.

She stared at him as he walked toward the door, "Jack," she began but he cut her off.

"Save it, Chelley, I don't want to hear it. I'm out," he said as he pulled open the door and disappeared into the hallway.

As he made his way to the elevator, he pulled his phone from his pocket and saw that he had seventeen missed calls. He scrolled though the list and pressed send when Alex's name was highlighted.

"'Lo?" Alex answered on the second ring.

"Dude, where the fuck are you?" he asked.

"Where are you, bro. You're the one who disappeared last night."

"I'm at a hotel that does not look like the same one we were at last night. I'm hungover as fuck and, oh yeah, I fucking got married last night," he ranted.

"You did what?" Alex shouted.

"I married your ex," Jack said as the elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, "Why did you let me leave with her?"

Alex sighed, "I didn't even know you left. One minute you were playing some fucked up version of King's Cup and the next you were gone. I figured, when I didn't see Chelley, you two just went off to have drunk sex. How was I supposed to know you would decide to get married?"

Jack was silent for a moment, "Alright," he said, "You have a point. But fuck, what am I going to do?" he asked.

"What did Chelley say?" Alex asked.

"Well, she flipped the fuck out, obviously. I did too. But then I tried to make a joke to lighten the mood and she went off about how I'm immature and don't understand life. And then I left," he explained.

Alex let out another sigh, "Do you know where you are?" he asked.

"Hang on," he said.

The elevator doors opened in the lobby and Jack stepped out, looking for anything that said the name of the hotel he was at. Having no luck, he walked outside and looked around, then gave Alex a street name.

"Alright," Alex said, "I have no fucking clue where you are. Street names mean nothing to me around here. Hail a cab and give the driver this address," he said and rattled off an address, "Got it?"

"Yeah. I'll see you in a bit," he said and hung up.

With a loud sigh, he stuck his hand out. Cab drivers ignored him and drove right past. He was beginning to get very discouraged when a small figure appeared next to him. She stuck her hand out and the next available taxi pulled over and stopped in front of them.

Jack just stared at her for a minute before opening the door. She climbed in first, scooting across the seat so he could get in as well. He immediately gave the driver the address Alex had given him and the two sat in awkward silence for the entire ride.